WILKES-BARRE — Harlow Cuadra shook his head and his voice reached a near frantic tone as he responded to lead prosecutor Michael Melnick’s question.

“He pleaded guilty to murder,” Cuadra said. “I did not. For two years, I have held on to my innocence.”

Joseph Kerekes stabbed Bryan Kocis in a jealous rage, Cuadra said, sticking to his story during two hours of questioning Wednesday.

Eight men and four women will decide if Cuadra killed Kocis and set fire to his Dallas Township home in January 2007. This morning jurors will hear the litany of charges 27-year-old Cuadra faces, including arson, homicide and conspiracy, before beginning their deliberations.

Cuadra, who testified for more than six hours over two days, could face the death penalty if found guilty of first-degree homicide.

“The horror that was inflicted on Bryan Kocis by his killer was terrible,” attorney Joseph D’Andrea said during his closing argument. “But a mystery remains, who is Bryan Kocis’ killer? … Did that young man who I represent do it? Or, did he die by the hand of a violent man named Joseph Kerekes?”

Kerekes, 35, pleaded guilty to second-degree homicide in December and is serving a life sentence. Cuadra and Kerekes were codefendants initially, as prosecutors alleged the two men killed Kocis to further the gay pornography Web site they ran in Virginia Beach, Va. Kocis, 44, operated Cobra Video, a well-known gay pornography company. Kerekes was set to testify Tuesday for Cuadra, but changed his mind once he was called to the witness stand.

Melnick’s and D’Andrea’s closing arguments — 56 and 55 minutes each — summed up a case involving more than 90 witnesses, thousands of pages of documents and 12 days of testimony.

“There is one thing I will agree with Harlow Raymond Cuadra about,” Melnick said. “Joseph Kerekes is a murderer. I agree with that. But … this wasn’t a solo performance by Joseph Kerekes.”

Melnick continued, pointing at Cuadra, “He aided and abetted that man.”

Cuadra gained access to Kocis’ Midland Drive home, Melnick said, by pretending to be a modeling hopeful named “Danny Moilin.” And, Cuadra alone slashed Kocis’ throat, Melnick told jurors, because he wanted to increase attention to his pornography Web site.

“(It) is a very mediocre Web site,” Melnick said. “But you heard him. What did the defendant call himself? ‘I’m a gay porn star.’ He was a wannabe. He wanted to be a big deal.”

Despite Cuadra’s repeated denials during cross-examination, Melnick insisted Cuadra’s story of the murder didn’t match prosecution evidence.

“Mr. Cuadra, your goal was to annihilate and obliterate your chief rival,” Melnick said during cross-examination.

“No, and once again, out of 90 people who have taken the stand, you’re the only who is saying that,” Cuadra said. “Your statements are not fact.”

Cuadra’s mother, sister and other family members sighed and clutched the wooden courtroom benches as Melnick’s voice increased and his questions became more direct. Across the aisle, Kocis’ mother, father and sister sat, listening intently and staring at the man accused of killing their son and brother.

Melnick’s closing argument reviewed prosecution evidence, but spent more time quoting Cuadra’s own testimony, saying it was filled with incongruities.

“Was the defendant telling the truth?” Melnick asked. “He has the most at stake. He has a significant interest to lie and fabricate, and you have to take that into account. Does it ring true or is it complete, unadulterated fiction?”

Melnick read from a letter Cuadra sent a friend after his arrest.

“He wrote, and these are his words, he needs lawyers that can tell a good story,” Melnick said. “Innocent people don’t need alibis. They’re innocent.”

Cuadra’s attorneys said Kerekes is the more domineering and physically imposing of the two men. D’Andrea referenced a video showing Cuadra throwing a football.

“I hate to be so condescending, but it was almost feminine,” D’Andrea said. “Harlow is not a jock. Harlow is not the muscleman who has the physical ability to kill.”

“Ladies and gentlemen, I don’t care how Harlow throws a football,” Melnick retorted during his closing argument. “He’s a gym rat … The kid is ripped.”

D’Andrea didn’t diminish the weight of prosecution’s case, saying Cuadra didn’t have “helicopters and witnesses to fly in.” He referenced the movie “Doubt” and quoted Sherlock Holmes. The evidence, he said, didn’t prove Cuadra committed a single crime.

“At best, folks, my client was a witness to a crime,” D’Andrea said. “My client didn’t have to testify. He didn’t have to sit there and be barraged for two days. He waited two years to talk to you folks.”

The prosecution’s case raised more questions than it answered, he said. Prosecutors presented evidence of lighter fluid, condoms and other items purchased at Wal-Mart. Cuadra wanted condoms because he thought he really was going to model for Kocis and have sex with him, and he didn’t know about Kerekes’ plans.

“You’re not worried about safe sex if you’re going to kill someone,” D’Andrea said.